Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Keep me In Mind by Jaime Reed Book Review

BLURBA girl who doesn't remember. A boy who can't forget her. A wise, witty, and heartbreaking love story for today's YA generation.

Ellia Dawson doesn't recognize the handsome boy who sits in tears by her hospital bed. But he's telling her that he's Liam McPherson, her boyfriend. Boyfriend? Ellia thinks in shock. She has no clue who Liam is, let alone whether or not she once loved him. She remembers her family, her friends, and the fact that she wants to be a fashion designer. But Liam is a big blank in her life.

Meanwhile, Liam is devastated that Ellia, the love of his life, who suffered an accident while they were running together on the beach, has lost her memory. He is desperate to win her back, rebuild what they once had, but Ellia keeps him at an arm's length. She's much more comfortable with a new boy she meets at the hospital, who understands more what she's going through. So Liam begins writing the story of the two of them, piecing together the past in the hopes of having a future with the girl he loves.

Told from alternating perspectives, this is a lyrical, clever, and surprising novel from Jaime Reed.

REVIEWFOUR OUT OF FOUR STARS*A special thanks to the publisher for this review copy*
You can also find this review on YABooksCentral here:http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/19731-keep-me-in-mindA novel that transcends its intended audience, Keep Me in Mind's mature characters and realistic story make this novel a perfect read for adults and teens a like.

While the story remained contemporary, and youthful, the characters were wiser and "deeper" than you could imagine.

THE STORYEllia, doesn't remember Liam. Liam remembers everything about Ellia. He's her boyfriend and she can't remember him. She's his girlfriend and he'll never forget her. Both engage in a wicked dance of reconnecting the past and the future. One trying to remember the past and contain it, the other getting to know the past--and wishing to forget it.

On a mission to reconnect with his first love, Liam sets out to write their story, with hopes that words will remind Ellia of the love that brought them together in the first place.

Told from alternating perspectives. Keep Me in Mind, is both clever and wise and at times, surprisingly, laugh inducing.

THE CHARACTERSWith characters whose personalities are larger than the pages they were created on, I couldn't help but feel a deep sense of connection with Elia and Liam whose love seemed larger than life. Wrought with secrets, slight racial tension, and a Romeo and Juliet kind of love, the story was right for it's time.

The best thing about this novel is Liam. He's intense, while strangely timid. He's wise and swoon-worthy but, best of all, his love for Ellia is three dimensional. His love jumped right off the pages and into my heart.

His lines were among some of my favorites:

"Tell that to the sunset," he argued. "No human can see one for the first time and not be mesmerized. Some beauty is unattainable, some beauty is deceptive, and some beauty is intimidating. But yours..." He paused looking at me fully. Yours is inviting."

"I'd missed her in all tenses: past, present and future."

COME ON, SWOON RIGHT?

The contemporary tone of this novel made it easily readable but the clever realistic writing kept this reader in the story.

What I liked:

Readability: The story is easy to read, has a contemporary tone, and is easily unputadownable because of it.

The romance: Forbidden love has always been a trope I love. Their love is interracial *cheers*, intense and outright forbidden by all parents. Despite it all love persevered on all ends in the exact way it was supposed to.

The characters: Every single one of them had a life of their own--no single character needed the other to exist to be relevant, which is no easy feat for an author. It's not always easy to create an entire cast of characters that are likable, but Reed does so flawlessly.

What I didn't like: While this novel wasn't perfect I have no real solid complaints. Aside from the ending which I found romantically lacking. I have nothing to really complain about.

FINAL VERDICT:A perfectly readable novel that will appeal to readers from teen to adult, Keep Me in Mind was surprisingly clever, and quite funny. At the end of it, it stays true to reality and is easy to connect to. A great read for contemporary romance lovers.

I just recently heard of this one and was hoping it was good. Although the premise has been done in some movies and books before... I don't know if I've read a book where the characters were teens and had this dynamic going on. It sounds like The Notebook almost :) Great review!